The present invention relates in general to automated assembling machines, and, in particular, to a new and useful apparatus for assembling a multi-part article, in particular, a compact for make-up which has a base with at least one receptacle for receiving a component, such as a tray of make-up, and a lid hinged to the base for movement to a closed position covering the receptacle, to an open position exposing the receptacle.
Quality control is an important consideration for any manufacturing process. Some scheme must be established for distinguishing between acceptable manufactured articles and articles which have defects, and which are therefore unacceptable. This is a particularly difficult problem where one seeks to automate the manufacture of a multi-part article having components which are ultimately closed within an outer casing. Each casing must either be opened manually and visually inspected, or else some other mechanism must be found for verifying the correct manufacture of the article. Re-opening the casing after it has been closed in an automated assembly line is particularly wasteful of time and manpower. A manufacturing apparatus which can automatically distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable articles would thus be particularly useful.
The apparatus of the present invention has this capability. By sensing the condition of the article at strategic locations along the assembly line, and by keeping track of the position of each article on the assembly line, the apparatus can distinguish between acceptable and unaccpetable articles and separate these articles accordingly.
The present invention requires actuators that are capable of moving articles and components extremely accurately. Actuators which can be used in the present invention have been disclosed in three U.S. patents to one of the co-inventors (Earl F. Beezer). U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,834 entitled DEVICE FOR TRANSMITTING CONTROL TRANSLATORY MOVEMENTS, discloses an actuator which is driven by a rotary shaft to transmit this rotary movement into accurate movement in an X and Y direction. U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,924 entitled DEVICE FOR TRANSMITTING ACCURATE TRANSLATIONAL AND ROTARY MOVEMENTS, discloses an actuator which is capable of accurately rotating a shaft about its own axis and translating the shaft along its axis. U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,362 entitled ADJUSTABLE X AND Y AXIS CONTROLLED MOVEMENT MECHANISM, is another actuator which is capable of accurate movement in X and Y directions. These three patents, which have all been issued to Earl F. Beezer, are incorporated here by reference.